Exactly two weeks from today, Reggae Month activities start with the Dennis Brown Concert on Sunday, January 29.

The theme, Reggae 50: Jamaica’s Heart and Soul. The entire festival is geared towards celebrating 50 years of Jamaica’s independence, and also, 50 years of modern Jamaican musical idioms.

While recognising the modern recording industry began in 1951 with Stanley Motta doing the first recordings of mento music, it wasn’t until 1962 that Ska fully evolved and was recognized as the forerunner to other musical idioms such as rock steady, dub, dub poetry, reggae and, more recently, dancehall music.

2012 is also the fifth year that we’re formally saluting Reggae during February. As is customary, this joint project organised by JaRIA, the Dennis Brown Foundation and Sounds & Pressure, will block off Orange Street, showcasing the area where Dennis Brown spent most of his years. His prolific career will be celebrated through presentation of his music from various artistes including Damian and Stephen Marley, Tarrus Riley, Cocoa Tea, Junior Reid, Beres Hammond, Half Pint, Jimmy Riley and Ken Boothe.

The stars seem perfectly aligned for a great celebration, given the fact that 2012 is a leap year, and February starts and ends on a Wednesday. We have five Wednesdays to stage our Reggae Nights at Edna Manley College which, more than any other event of the month, have become the flagship events.

Reggae Month 2012 will feature at least one event per day.

Weekly Events

Weekly Events include programmes produced by JaRIA at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts which highlights the social backdrop and the genres of reggae. A series of five live concerts featuring Maroon Drumming, Gospel, Folk, Mento, Jazz and Classical; Ska and Rocksteady; Reggae, Rockers, Dub and Dub Poetry; Dancehall and Alternative are also planned.

Wednesday February 1

Classical, Jazz, Mento and Ska

EMC String Ensemble, Pimento Players, Samuel Felsted Chamber Orchestra & Chamber Music Group. Jamaica Symphony Orchestra, Gilzene and the Blue Light Mento Band, Jamarokaz, Maurice Gordon Quartet, Yard Beat, Samuele Vivian.

Wednesday February 8

Reggae Bands: Legends and New Sensations

Chalice, Errol Lee and Bare Essentials, Fab 5, Dubtonic Kru, Uprising Roots, Raging Fyah, C Sharp.

Wednesday February 15

Sly & Robbie and the Taxi Gang plus Dub Poetry

Oku Onuora, Broussai, Mutabaruka, Historyman.

Wednesday February 22

Singers and DJs

U-Brown, Busy Signal, Big Youth, Alaine, Romaine Virgo, Chris Martin. Ken Boothe, Johnny Clarke.

Wednesday February 29

Dancehall & Alternative

Mojahrock, Roots Underground, Nomadz, Capleton, Chino, Stephen McGregor

Premium Events

Ecumenical Church Service

In keeping with the spirit of Unity, Reggae Month will host an ecumenical service on Sunday February 5 at 12:00 noon at the University Chapel at the University of the West Indies highlighting Jamaica’s unique gospel sound through a musical presentation including hits like Peter Tosh’s ‘Creation’ and ‘I for Jesus’ by Ernie Smith.

Dance Vibes 50 (February 11)

Dances manifested from, influenced by and evolved through the cultural development of Reggae Music. Leading dance companies and groups in Jamaica will perform dance choreography alongside Jam sessions and discussion forums.

JaRIA Seminars

JaRIA’s mandate to educate and inform its members on matters affecting the industry will be on stage for 2 days during Reggae Month on February 17 & 18 at the Edna Manley College. Presenters will include local experts from within the industry, academia and international experts, who’ll speak on:

– ‘Reggae Going Green’: Will focus on best practices and eco-friendly technology to aid promoters and event planners on making local events more environmentally friendly.

– Sustaining Live Events: Will focus on issues of fundraising for events, sponsorship and local licenses

– International spotlight on Reggae – Looking at the international standards of Reggae towards improving service delivery in areas of Technical production and safety & security standards

– ‘Preserve The Music’ will highlight all copyright and intellectual property issues.

Hype and Excitement

The popularity of the sound system in dancehall and Jamaica’s music in general is undeniable and so, on Saturday, February 18 at the Stadium Car Park, Reggae Month will stage a traditional Dance with popular sound systems.

Reggae Runways

On February 24 Reggae Runways fuses fashion with Reggae Music. It will pair the hottest Reggae Artistes with Jamaica’s fierce fashion designers.

JaRIA Honour Awards (February 25)

As demonstrated in previous years (2009, 2010 and 2011), this event provides an authentic barometer for gauging the development of the music and its practitioners. The Honour Awards is a glamorous, star-studded gala event where special recognition is given to industry icons who have figured prominently in the amazing penetration of Jamaican music culture across the world. The intention is to salute significant achievement and red carpet style using the essential elements of a concert format with performances interspersed between presentations of the awards.

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com